Chinese smartphone manufacturer Huawei has accused the United States of lobbying against the company in India. “The US is lobbying against Huawei in India and everybody knows that,” Jay Chen, chief executive of Huawei told reporters in Barcelona.
Huawei has been facing global scrutiny after the US raised security concerns against the OEM regarding 5G equipment, given the company close relation with the Chinese government. The United States has asked its allies to ban 5G gear from Huawei. Countries like Canada, Japan, New Zealand, and Australia have already acceded to the request. Huawei has asked the US for evidence behind its claims and accused other governments of wrongdoing. The company also said that such information, if any, should at least be disclosed to carriers.
Mike Pompeo, US Secretary of State, earlier this month had cautioned its allies that providing deploying equipment from Huawei in their respective countries would make it more difficult for the US to partner with them, according to a Reuters report on 11 February. Countering the security concerns in India, Huawei’s James Wu, president, Southern-East Asia region at Huawei Technologies said that the company’s local teams are conducting extensive dialogues and have a communication plan for the Indian market.
“Up till now, we haven’t received any concerns from the India government…As
the tech company, Huawei is ready to talk to all stakeholders in India and engage
them with extensive consultations,” he added.
Telecom Secretary, Aruna Sundararajan said on Wednesday that the government has not yet come to a conclusion if it will allow the Chinese manufacturer to take part in 5G trials, saying that the government will examine all the security issues that have been raised by various countries.
Chen said that the telecom department is attempting to carefully study cybersecurity issues which are a part of the global industry joined efforts to build and strengthen cybersecurity standards. He also said that the company is complying with the majority of security parameters for the global 5G standard. “The China govt gave clear clarification that they never ask about data. Chinese data law is the same as many countries,” he added.
The executive said that within 20 days of the allocation of the trial spectrum, the company will launch 5G field trials with partner telcos. The company has also started discussions with telcos and academia to set up a 5G testbed to test the technology and identify new uses. “If we get spectrum for trials, within 20 days we can start the 5G trials involving all stakeholders. We have been talking to the government. We will be the first to do it,” Chen said.